Fallout Equestria: Wanderers

by Mach Speed

Chapter 7

As I ran out of the collapsing cave and into the open air, I kept my eyes closed as streams of tears ran down my face. Marigold’s song had stuck with me all through the cave. With my eyes closed I couldn’t see where I was going and tripped over one of the many boxes that surrounded the mine entrance. As I tripped over, I skidded to a halt on my stomach and began coughing and panting on the ground as my dust-filled lungs tried to catch up with the rest of my body. I thought I had time to rest, but my companion was soon upon me.

“Clear, Clear! Are you alright?” Through bloodshot eyes I looked back at Bolts, his coat now sporting a layer of dust. I could hear in the background that the captured residents of Merry Burrows were cheering for their salvation, finally out of the horrid mine.

“Ye-cough-yeah… I‘m fine… What about White?”

“He’s gone. He managed to escape ahead of us.” Bolts pointed his hoof in the direction of some cart tracks and a small dust cloud at the end of them heading away from both us and the town of Merry Burrow. On any other day I probably could have quickly lined up a shot with my rifle, but thanks to the darkness of night, the dust in my lungs and my tear filled eyes, I would have just ended up missing. “Where’s Marigold?...” Bolts’ question came silently and only to my ears.

“She… she’s dead… she decided to stay with her foals.” Bolts hung his head with me.

“Why Clear? Why did you do it? Why did you blow up the dynamite?!” Bolts raised his voice at the end, causing the newly saved residents to stop cheering and look our way.

“I didn’t have any choice!” I yelled back. “If hadn’t detonated that dynamite it would only have been a matter of time before those slavers dug their way out and went back to ravaging the town!”

“And what about the foals? HUH!? Weren’t they just like your sister!?” His words cut me deep and slowly I stood up.

“That’s why I did what I did.” I said, lowering my voice to a normal tone. “If I didn’t cause the mine to collapse on them, they WOULD have suffered the same as Joy. If anything, I spared them. As for Marigold… she chose to stay behind. I tried to get her to move but she just wouldn’t go.” Bolts went quiet and looked away. “This is what it’s like up here, Bolts. Sometimes in life you have to make the tough decisions, ones that will ultimately save many ponies, but will stay with you forever. I’m the one who used the detonator but not only did I save the other slaves and the rest of the town, I also saved Marigold and her foals from a fate worse than death. Did I want to do it? No. At the end of the day, though, it happened and we just have to live with our decisions.” Bolts gave a huff as he looked at me through the corner of his eye.

“Just because I have to live with it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“Understandable. Now, what about everyone else, did everyone get out alright?” Bolts finally turned to look at me.

“Yeah, everyone made it.” He turned back to look at the group of freed townsponies. While most had solemn looks on their faces, all the others were smiling, happy to be free and ready to head home. Even in the darkness of night I was able to see them thanks to the full moon. It must have been just around midnight when we had exited the mine. Something seemed off though, somepony was missing.

“Clear!” The call came from the direction Mr. White had run off. As I turned to look, the missing pony came into view as Golden Shield trotted up, giving a few small pants. “I’m sorry Clear, I wasn’t fast enough.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well after Bolts ran back to help you, I kept chasing after Mr. White but he and those thugs of his managed to escape. I gave chase for a short distance but they just got away.”

“It’s fine. I doubt Mr. White will be bothering the town of Merry Burrow any time soon.” I turned back to the group and smiled. “I think it’s time that we got everypony home.” The group of ponies smiled back and gave a small cheer before we started to head back to town, the dim lights of The Crystal Clear Pub as our beacon.

I took the lead with Bolts following beside me as we lead the townsponies of Merry Burrow back home. Golden Shield had taken up the rear guard in case any of the townsponies fell behind or were attacked by a random animal in the night. The townsponies kept up as we walked through the dark wasteland, the crisp air of night keeping up cool. The ponies chortled and talked up a storm, saying what they’d do once they had returned to their families.

“So, how are you going to tell Barley?” Bolts said close to me as kept walking. He spoke softly as not to disturb the others.

“I don’t know…” I sighed. “I’m just going to have to tell him the truth.”

“You mean that you killed his wife and two young sons?”

“You’re not helping, and have I mentioned before that you’re a prick?”

“No, but there’s always time for that.” Bolts smirked in hopes that I’d feel better. In truth, I did, and I gave a small smile back to him. “You think he’ll kick us out?”

“I hope not.” I said as I levitated out my cigarettes and lit one, hoping to calm my nerves a little. “For one thing, I’d hate to ask anyone else for a room.” I said, exhaling my smoke. “I think it might be best to rest for a night then leave as soon as possible.”

“What? Why? Shouldn’t we wait for the next caravan to come through so we can stock up on supplies?” Bolts was right, but I still felt uneasy about staying a few extra days.

“I just don’t want us to overstay our welcome.”

“And you think we will by you telling Barley what happened because it was the right thing to do.” I gave a long, deep sigh, blowing more smoke out.

“Yes, I do.”

“Well I don’t. It’s just like you said, you did what you did because it was the right thing. If you hadn’t, something worse would have happened in its place. I’m sure that while, yes, Barley will be sad, he will understand.”

“I hope you’re right” I said letting out another sigh as we approached the town.

As we entered the town, I noticed that almost every home was completely dark, no lanterns were lit and giving off lifelike glow. The only light in the town came from The Crystal Clear Pub which we made our way to. In the silence of night a small hum rang out as we got closer to the pub. The hum of soft chatter emanated from the confines of the pub. It seemed that the residents of the town had gathered inside to wait for the return of their friends and families. As we slowly approached the swinging doors of the front, I was glad that none of the kidnapped residents didn’t sprint forward and let me go first.

The moment I walked up to the door and poked my head inside, all the chatter immediately stopped and the entire town looked my way, wondering if I had brought the others home. Barley had rushed to the front of the bar and had almost jumped over it, wanting to see if his wife and foals were there.

“Well, boy, did you find them?” I gave a smile to both Barley and the group before flaring my magic and opening the doors to reveal the group behind me.

“Yes, we did.” There came a loud cheer and the pub roared into excited cries as family member after family member pushed passed me to be with their loved ones inside the pub. As the last few charged inside, Bolts moved up beside me and smiled. Turns out I had a soft smile on my face as well.

“So this is why you do it, huh?”

“What do you mean?”

“This is why you’re out here helping others. That smile that you have on your face says it all. You just love seeing families reunited.”

“Heh, I guess that’s one way of putting it.” The smile soon faded from my face however as grinning Barley was quickly trotting up to me in hopes to have his family back as well. Giving a large gulp, I knew the moment I had feared had finally come.

“You did it boys! I’m sorry I had my doubts but you actually did it! You brought back the residents. What about the supplies?”

“Well, after rescuing everyone we had to make a quick exit.” I said, rubbing my hoof along the back of my neck and through my mane.

“Yeah, I heard that explosion from here. We all did. So no supplies huh? Oh well, supplies can be replaced, pony lives can’t.” (Oh for the love of Luna why did he have to say that?) “So where’s my wife and boys?” Barley asked as he tried to look past me to see if they were behind. “Are they just taking their time? They’re not injured, are they?” Taking a deep sigh, I shook my head.

“Barley… we… We have to talk. Can we go into the back?” I said, quickly flicking my cigarette bud behind me. As I turned back I could see the colour had quickly drained from Barley’s face and his eyes had started to lose the little glints of hope that they had. It was almost as if he could read minds and knew what was to come.

“O-of course… p-please… follow me.” Barley led us, with his head down, through the crowd of happy, cheering families. With each step I took, my heart broke a little more. I didn’t want to have to break the news to him but I knew I had to. Barley led Bolts and I through the crowd and through a door into the back of the pub. The back seemed to be an old style kitchen that housed the small amount of supplies the pub was allowed to have. As we entered, Barley slowly turned to face us. “She wasn’t there, was she?” He asked in a small tone, wanting to get it over and done with, the band aid solution. Bolts and I stood there, both not wanting to answer. “Well? You can tell me. It was false hope anyway.” Barley began to sob.

“Yes… she was there…” I finally spoke up. “And so were your foals.” The mere mention that they were there caused Barley’s head to shoot back up.

“They were there!? W-well where are they now? Did they get lost? Are they hurt and need help getting back?” Barley seemed hell-bent on wondering what happened.

“I’m… I’m sorry Barley… They won’t be coming back. They’re dead, all three of them.” Barley’s eyes went wide and immediately filled with tears.

“No… NO! You’re lying!” Without warning, Barley rushed forward and grabbed me by the shoulders and started shaking me. “You promised me you’d bring them back if you found them!” Barley sobbed heavily as he spoke. As he bowed his head in front of me, streams of tears escaped his eyes and fell to the floor like flowing rivers. I could see Bolts out the corner of my eye looking away from the sight. Truth be told, even I had a hard time looking at Barley.

“I’m sorry Barley… I tried everything I could to bring them back… I just wasn’t the hero you thought I could be.” (Hero? Yeah right. Good one, Clear.)

“I-it’s fine, boy…” Barley said through heavy sobs and sniffles “Did you at least kill the lowlife scum who took their lives?” (Ouch.) I looked around more trying to think of something to say but I just couldn’t lie to him.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t kill him…”

“Wh-what do you mean you didn’t kill the bastard?!” Barley stopped sobbing long enough to look into my eyes with a fierce look. “You sealed that place like a fucking tomb. I heard the fucking explosion myself. Don’t tell me the bastard got away!?”

“No he didn’t get away… Barley… the one who killed your wife and foals was… was…”

“Me.” My head quickly turned round in shock to see Bolts taking the blame. “I’m the one who detonated the dynamite and sealed them away behind there.”

“Bolts… you…” I was quickly pushed aside by Barley before I could finish speaking.

“You… you FUCKING BASTARD!” Barley leapt forward and tackled Bolts to the ground, placing his hooves over Bolts’ throat and pressing down, choking Bolts with everything he had. “Why did you do it!? Why didn’t you save them!? Huh!? You KILLED them!” Bolts flailed his hooves around before I quickly jumped to my own hooves and pried the sobbing and raging Barley off my companion. The second Barley was off, Bolts took in as much air as he could, coughing loudly.

“Th-cough!-that could have *cough* gone better.” Bolts said in a raspy voice.

“You didn’t have to do that, Bolts…” I held Barley tight as I turned my attention to him. “Bolts wasn’t the one who killed them… I did…”

“Don’t you DARE fucking take the blame for him!” Barley snorted back at me.

“I’m not taking the blame for him! He was stupidly taking the blame for me just a few seconds ago.”

“Oh, gee, thanks…” Bolts said in retort to the ‘stupid’ remark. Barley continued to thrash for a short time before finally easing up.

“Good, now I’ll let you go, do you promise me a chance to explain myself?” we were all silent for a good long while, the entire pub was silent. I quickly looked up and saw a few sets of eyes looking into the back where we were.

“Very well… I’ll let you explain.” Barley said quietly and in a gruff voice.

“Thank you.” I said, releasing him and letting him stand on his own. Once Barley and Bolts were back on their hooves, I started to explain the events of the past night. “We had just freed everyone including your family but because I had to kill a slaver to do so, we had to get out fast. On our way out we ran into Mr. White who was planning an attack on the town and forced us back down the tunnel while he walked out. Once Mr. White was out of sight, I got Bolts and Golden Shield to lead everyone out of the mine while I dealt with the slavers. I was able to keep them at bay for a little while but soon I ran after the group as well. I was too focused on what was happening around me that I didn’t even notice your wife and foals had fallen behind until it was too late.” Barley stood there and listened as I explained what had happened, it was hard to judge by his face what he was thinking. “I shot a single stick of dynamite to cause a small cave in and keep the other slavers at bay but I didn’t see your family running up before I shot the dynamite. Your wife made it through… but your foals were trapped on the other side.” Barley bowed his head and began to sob again, softly this time. “Bolts and I tried to move the fallen rocks as fast as we could but there was just too much. Before I knew it, the slavers had caught up and had found your sons. I was stuck and didn’t know what to do. If I continued to move the rocks, they’d gun us down and move onto the town, if I left them be, they’d get out themselves and in the meantime… they would have done unspeakable things to your foals. I spared them that fate and detonated a number of dynamite that I had wired on the other side. They were killed along with the slavers…” Barley was fully in tears now.

“And? Wh-sniff-what about my wife? What about Marigold?” I took a moment before answering, allowing Barley to dry his eyes a little.

“She decided to stay behind as the rest of the mine entrance collapsed. I begged her, pleaded for her to come with me so she could return to you, but she wanted to remain with her foals. I would have torn her away, had she not threatened me with a gun.” Now even I started to become teary eyed. “I’m sorry… I can’t tell you how sorry I am, Barley… I tried to bring them back… but ended up killing them instead.” A few tears broke away from my eyes and ran down my cheek.

“Promise me something.” Barley asked, through his own tears. “Promise me they didn’t suffer.” His voice was rough and a little raspy and he dared not look me in the eye.

“That I can promise you, neither your wife nor sons suffered in death. They went quickly.”

“Very good…” Barley turned around and opened the back room door to which a surprised crowd jumped back. I had been right, the residents had been listening in for some time. Barley stopped as he reached the two barmaids from earlier. “Harmony, lock up once everyone has left. I’m going to bed...” the older of the two nodded and Barley moved on and up the stairs to the second floor, out of sight. For what seemed like hours, everyone stood still, not knowing what to do until the residents started to leave for their own homes. One by one, the residents left until the only ones that remained were the barmaids, Golden Shield, Bolts and myself.

“We should really get some rest. It’s still late at night.” Golden said, piping up. “Good night, you two.” She said as she moved upstairs. (She must be renting one of the other rooms.)

“You two should rest.” Harmony said to us as we still remained in the doorway to the back room. “And thank you, for everything. Even though you couldn’t save everypony, you still freed us from those slavers, thank you so much.”

“It’s what we do.” Bolts replied before we silently moved upstairs to our own room. As we got closer, all I could hear was Barley’s sobbing coming from his own room.

I couldn’t sleep. Even after the long night, I found it hard to close my eyes. While Bolts had quickly fallen asleep, I laid awake in bed, continuously hearing Barley’s cries and sad moans coming from down the hall. I hadn’t even bothered to remove my duster before crawling into bed. With a heavy sigh a slowly sat up and in the dark of night I moved out of the room and down the stairs into the bar area.

“I need a drink.” I quickly sat up on a stool at the bar and used my magic to find a bottle of whiskey hidden behind the bar itself. I noted that all the chairs were stacked and the lights were out, showing that Harmony and the other barmaid had done their job before leaving for their own home. (Or did they live in one of the other rooms here?) The random thought entered my mind and quickly left as I tore the cork from the top of the whiskey bottle. I never was a big fan of whiskey, but I desperately needed something strong to knock me out and as I threw my head back and let the whiskey pour down my throat, I got an idea of just how strong it was. The whiskey went down hard and left a burning sensation in my throat, but it was a good burn. It let me know I was still there.

“Well Clear, that’s three more lives you couldn’t save.” I began talking to myself. “Why should I even bother trying if I’m just going to fail in the end?” I took another large gulp of whiskey, and the burning remained. “Why am I even out here? I was right, it was just a stupid dream.” Some more whiskey passed between my lips and only half the bottle remained. “Maybe what nightmare dad said was right… I’m just going to end up killing those close to me.” As I finished speaking I threw my head back again and drained another quarter of the whiskey. Throwing my head back forward I began to pant and sob. “J-joy… I just don’t know what to do, I wa-sob-want to make things right but I feel like I’m failing at every turn in some way… what should I do?!” As I cried out I raised a hoof and slammed it onto the bar and heard a large clunk. Looking up and even through the dark night and my somewhat double vision, I could see the revolver still strapped to my ankle. Was it a sign? In my half drunken state it sure felt like it, it felt like I’d only keep causing those around me to die if I tried anything. “Is… is this it Joy?...” slowly I levitated the heavy revolver up to the side of my head and cocked it. I began to tremble, this was it, I’d no longer harm others with my stupid vengeance quest. Slowly I sniffed and closed my eyes. This was it, I’d no longer harm others with my stupid vengeance quest. Slowly I sniffed and closed my eyes, read for the bang. Firmly my magic squeezed the trigger and click. Nothing came, only the small sound of the firing pin hitting a spent primer.

“What the?” I said as I brought the revolver back down and opened the cylinder. “One, two, three…” all five rounds were spent and all of them were used to protect those around me. I stared at the spent rounds for some time, not doing anything, just looking at them until I gave a small smirk and chuckle.

“I guess it isn’t my time yet. Very well Joy, I’ll keep trying to make amends like I’ve been doing already.” The second I place the revolver down I brought the whiskey bottle back to my lips and chugged the last of it. as I threw my head back and finished off the whiskey I felt myself tumble backwards. It felt like I was in free-fall for quite some time, my legs flailing about until I landed with a loud thud and my head hitting the hard, wooden floor. The force of the impact caused me to black out and as I started to lose consciousness, I chuckled a bit to myself. “Heh, this is why I don’t drink whiskey.”

“On the booze again?” The question travelled into my mind as I laid asleep on the floor of The Crystal Clear Pub but the rough voice woke me slightly.

“huh? Wha?” I opened my eyes slightly to see Barley staring back at me, his eyes bloodshot and his coat pale, it seemed like he hadn’t slept at all the previous night.

“I said, on the booze again?” He showed little emotion as he spoke.

“Umm… yeah… sorry… I needed something heavy to put me to sleep.” I saw Barley bring the large, empty bottle into view.

“You finished off a whole bottle of whiskey.” I could feel a small line of blush cross my face.

“Hehe, umm, yeah. Like I said I needed something heavy. Don’t worry, I fully intend to pay for it.”

“Good. This stuff isn’t cheap.” Barley moved around and started setting up for the day, ignoring the elephant in the room. I felt uneasy as I stood up, wanting to talk to Barley a little more.

“Hey… Barley… a-about your family… I’m so-“

“Save it.” Barley didn’t look at me as he cut me off. “I know you’re sorry, boy. But no amount of apologies will bring my family back.” I was shocked at his words.

“But I still don’t feel right…”

“Save it. You’ve already apologised and you promised me that they didn’t suffer when they died. That’s all you can do right now. At least I know they can now rest in peace.” Feeling a little crest fallen, I levitated up his old revolver and passed him it as well as the holster and bandolier.

“Here, you were right, that revolver did save me, as well as your youngest son last night.” Barley stopped and stared at the weapon for some time then looked back at me.

“You know what? There is something you can do for me. Keep that revolver and keep doing what you’re doing. Keep saving towns like ours. It seems to be the thing you’re good at.” For the first time that morning, both Barley and myself shared a smile with each other.

“I will, I’ll add it to the list of promises I’m already keeping.” I chuckled as I placed the holster and bandolier back on my body and fixed the revolver into place.

“Good, now I suggest you not stay long. While you did save the town, it may just be a little awkward for you to stay long. I can offer you a little bit of supplies but that’s it.”

“I understand.” I said nodding. “I’ll go wake Bolts and we’ll be on our way while the day is still young.”

It didn’t take me long to make my way upstairs and find my companion still sleeping. (Why do I think he was never on time while in his bunker?) Slowly I trotted up to him and nudged the sleeping pile. “Oi, sleepy head, wake up.” Bolts gave a loud grunt and sat up, giving a few tired blinks.

“Come on Clear, we were out all night. Can’t you let me sleep in just this once?”

“No, I’ve already spoken to Barley and we should leave as soon as possible. It’s just…”

“What?” he asked, giving me a half tired, half quizzical look.

“I just don’t know where to go from here. I don’t want to go into the rest of Equestria so ‘up’ isn’t the option.”

“Well… what about Brismane or one of those other cities along the coast?” I stopped to think for a moment, before moving again to pack a few things.

“Well I never have seen the coast but it’s worth a shot. The only problem is if we’re to follow the road, it’ll take us over a week and we’ll be backtracking through the previous towns.” Bolts’ ears perked up and he looked more wide awake after hearing about backtracking.

“I’d rather not do that…”

“Why?”

“Well I’d rather not be caught out in the open by any Steel Ranger scout. Is there any other way to get to the coast?”

“Well…” I dug around in my saddlebags before bringing out the map of Hoofstralia and laying it on the bed. “There is the more direct path.”

“Well we could do that, shave a few days off the travel.”

“Yeah we’d get there sooner, but there’s very little in the way between here and Brismane, that is if it still exists. Nothing but flat, open wasteland from here onwards and maybe one settlement if we’re lucky.”

“That means no caravans.”

“Which means if we want food, we’ll have to hunt and we’ll have to conserve our ammo.” We sat in silence for a moment considering if it was the right thing to do.

“Well, it’s better than getting picked up by Steel Ranger patrols.”

“Then we have a plan then.” I smiled to Bolts. “Now get up, get dressed and pack your things because we’re leaving.”

It wasn’t long before we packed our things and moved downstairs into the bar. Some residents had already started to gather, including the ones that had been taken as slaves, some to give their condolences to Barley, others just performing their daily routine. As we reached the bottom of the stairs I floated over a small pouch of caps to Barley who shot me a smile.

“You two off then? How’s your throat boy?”

“Nothing a night’s rest didn’t fix.” Bolts replied

“Yeah, we’ve decided to head for the coast.”

“The coast huh? Well.” Barley reached under the bar and pulled out a small sack. “Here’s some supplies for your troubles. It’s not much, but it’s a thank you from all of us.” I smiled as I placed the supplies in my saddlebags.

“Thanks, but we were just helping ponies in need.” With that, Barley moved out from behind the bar and gave me his hoof, to which I gave a firm shake.”

“Take care boys, and thanks again.” As he released my hoof, Harmony, followed by the other barmaid who I had guessed by now was her sister, trotted up to us.

“Melody and I never got to properly thank you for saving us yesterday.” Before I could say anything against a reward, Harmony leant in and kissed me on the cheek.

“Hey, I helped too!” Bolts protested, causing Harmony’s younger sister Melody to laugh and give him his own kiss on the cheek. “You know, I could get used to this.” I gave a loud laugh.

“Well don’t, that’s the first kiss I’ve gotten since leaving home. Come on, let’s go before the sun starts getting too high in the sky.” As we waved goodbye to the residents inside the pub, we stepped outside to find a familiar face leaning against a pole waiting for us.

“I guess you two are heading off then?” Golden Shield asked.

“Yeah, we decided to head for the coast, see if there is anypony needing help that way. What about you?”

“I’ve decided to stick around, at least until the next caravan shows up. Then I don’t know where I’ll go.”

“Well, wherever you end up, take care of yourself.” I said as Bolts and I shook hooves with her.

“That goes the same for you two. Who knows, our paths may cross again one day.”

“Yeah, maybe. Well, see ya later Golden.” As we waved goodbye to Golden Shield we set out for the wasteland again, headed east for the coast.

Footnote: No new level gained.